In death, we found him so illustrious a son of the motherland, that we laid his remains within the cemetery for heroes. But, at a certain point in his life, workaholic Joseph Henry Mensah, a co-architect of our most progressive development plan ever crafted, the Seven-Year Development Plan, was vilified for acquiring a small tiny bed for his ministerial office. Today, a president should be torn apart for flying in ‘luxury’ (stress relieving) style while conducting the motherland’s business.
I was recently reminded of the Mensah little bed story when I heard a former MoF official classmate recount his experiences of extreme stress on the job. My classmate was not a minister or chief director. But he completely justified the need to sometimes, shuttling between different time zones or working dead into the night, stretch out on the job.
Yet, so much space and voice of vilification was given to the MoF tiny bed, as if it was the cause of whatever poverty and hunger compatriots were experiencing. Just only a small camp bed Finance Minister J.H. Mensah had installed in his office to, once in while stretch out to modify the extreme stress. Compatriots of age would recall a single act of devaluation of the cedi was a huge factor in staging a coup against the government of Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia of which J.H. was the Finance Minister.
In this age, a septuagenarian under Covid and multiple security and labour agitation stress, charters a stress moderating machine for a gruelling round of trips and, all of a sudden, it is the cause of all the insecurity, extreme poverty and hunger he is being asked to fix at once. That ‘twas an abomination for him to have sought the temporary (I haven’t heard of any other time he has done that) relief!
Meanwhile, the police believe the media hype of rampant crime is feeding into more acts of criminality. The service is worried over the propagation of ‘false sense of insecurity;’ that the reality of crime is short of insecurity and those agents would rather spread fear and panic than efforts at crime prevention and busting.
When we were young, there was this episode of Dr Sam’s Mercedes Benz car. In the mid-1970s, Dr Sam, MD of Tema Foods, was mocked at Observatory of Vandal City over his proud possession. ‘Akwadaa na wo deɛ,’ or small boys are young, he had told us. Today, the only car for durability, comfort and reliability I wish I possessed, is a Mercedes. He said he bet on long term forever durability. He was emphatic it was not simple to establish the ‘ebi te yie’ (good) the vandals had assumed criticising him when he pulled up at the Observatory in the Mercedes. My only ever taxi ride in Cairo was in a Mercedes!
Presidents are human beings too and subject to the natural law of body wear and tear. That is why sometimes, I marvel at the energy levels of a 77-year-old; given that, at a younger age than that, I sleep anytime, anyhow. My worry over the presidential stress-relieving ride, will be the bogey of procurement; if the one who organised it took a devilish cut.
One may want to ask so why become president when you are that old. The answer is simple. That last time a fifty-something became president, his aircraft adventures weren’t just flying in comfort at expensive cost to the nation. It was an Embraer and Airbus bribery he was taking left, right and centre to enrich himself to resettle his spouse and concubines with whom he has fathered nineteen or so children in Dubai.
Everyone ought to remember that, he who was very young for national leadership at 32 years old in 1979, who resurfaced to sit on our necks at age 34 for twenty good years, hardly left any meaningful jobs for the youth. Neither did his successor fifty something, who built a dead noko fio sugar factory that never worked.
Gyato rather set a firm foundation for young acolytes and followers with sharp teeth to, at any opportunity up to today, ‘create, loot and share,’ thieving spree among themselves whatever money they sight as belonging to us all.
At least the Addo Preman comforts enabled him to stay awake and competently negotiate vehicle assembly plants and other job creating ventures for the young. That is what should make people distinguish between ‘small amenities’ and essentials.
I heard 51 years after its ‘scandalous’ acquisition, that ‘tiny’ (as described by he who has seen it) bed is still providing services at the Ministry of Finance. I heard; I haven’t seen it. But heard or seen, it’s state property that a Finance Minister cannot just jettison without proper board of survey scrutiny and recommendation to be discarded. I don’t think any serious board should spend time and money on that. So it will certainly, sit there, and sit there, and sit there for the story of ‘J.H. Mensah’s little bed to be told many times over.’
The question some sharp toothed youngie is asking about presidential travel costs is only part of the malicious ‘say anything campaign’ to embarrass the government. And it’s all because no one is tracking where what he and his stealing bites have gone. When you irrationalise where you are to rationalise, you fudge reasoning that propels you forward and lose out on maximising your improvement enabling thinking. One day, someone could be making my point that sparingly, a one-time combating stress to support competence, is no crime; and it is not immoral.
By Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh